There's something not-quite-right about the title. Looking closely at various articles and dictionaries, I think the name of this page should either be portmanteau words or blends. — It's dot com 03:21, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

"Portmanteau word" was the original phrase used to describe such words (as listed in dictionaries published as late as the early 1990s), but this has since been abbreviated to simply "portmanteau" as the term (and the type of words it describes) gained popularity.

What the, why aren't any of Senor Cardgage's lines on here? Who can forget such classics as "Oh, excardon me." and "Many combolations Elizagerth"! Those are classics, man.
I'll just list them here:
Extardon me: kind of cool
Many combolations Elizagerth: flashback
Alonzo Mourning to you, Myrtlebeth: alternate universe
Free canceltation: Senor Mortgage
The state of Kansattica: Theme song

You know, you can edit that page as easily as this one. Jut maintain the format, and get the links right (use preview) and be sure to be able to explin each one. - Qermaq - (T/C) 01:48, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

The portmanteaus on this page appear to be in a rather random order, unless I'm missing something. If I'm not, could we agree on an order to use? Alphabetical seems most logical to me, although I suppose we could go chronological by appearance. Heimstern Läufer 22:36, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

On most pages I'd go with chronological order, but it may take too much time as old ones seem to pop up from time to time. Alphabetic order with a good ol' horizontal TOC. — Elcool(talk)(contribs) 05:02, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Alphabetical makes more sense to me, as a word-related list. --DorianGray

As examples of tmesis are included here regularly, and as they and portmanteaus are lexicographically related, ought we open this page to tmesis, as Acronyms and Initialisms is open to both? - Qermaq - (T/C) 03:07, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

The question is whether this opens a Pandora's box. Are there other constructions which are similar to portmanteau and tmesis which might be offered? Which would be a better title: "Portmanteaus and Tmeses" or "Portmanteu and similar words"? Or other? - Qermaq - (T/C) 03:18, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I'd say they're all neologisms(although I think this has been argued and defeated previously . . . here at least): portmanteau, tmesis, conflations, minced oaths, newspeak, humorous mispronunciations, and arguably even eponyms can all fall under that catagory. - ISTC 03:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

The article says pretendous is a portmanteau of pretend and tremendous. I've always thought it was pretend and pretentious, which makes more sense in the context both times it is used (for reference, see Fan Costume Commentary and extra plug (easter egg)). I'd make the change myself, but everything I do ultimately turns out to be wrong, so I'll scrape up some feedback first. 16BitJorge 01:46, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I dunno... it seems like both tremendous and pretentious are pretty much synonymous... So, Ima go with tremendous, because it's the entire word "pretend", and then then "dous" of tremendous that get meshed together at the D. Bluebry 01:49, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

No, tremendous and pretentious are absolutely not synonyms; have a look at a dictionary. In the electricity bill and squirrel-pumpkin-gnawing (yikes, talk about hapax legomena) bill context , pretentious makes no sense. Shelikescloth 17:20, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I would actually go with a portmanteau of "Pretentious" and "Tremendous". "Pretend" makes no sense here, the bill is real. But "pretentious" can mean "exaggerated", which this bill certainly is. — Defender1031*Talk 17:27, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Um, I don't think a bill from a squirrel-staffed pumpkin-gnawing service properly qualifies as "real"... "Pretend" may for that reason sort of make some sense here (the main argument against it would seem to be that it's not very funny, and I have come to expect Very Funniness), but for the reasons I already explained, "pretentious" definitely doesn't make sense. But who knows, maybe Messers Chaps themselves are confused about its meaning. I think the best explanation is that it's a 4-way portmanteau of "prepubescent", "tenterhook", "endive", and "semi-porous". Shelikescloth 13:13, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Seems to me like shenanigans and hooligans (deceitful confidence trick plus unruly and destructive behavior) would make more sense than the current version of shinola and shenanigans (shoe polish plus deceitful confidence trick). Especially based on quote's context. -- Tom 07:36, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

The context of the quote does not support your theory, Tom. The word "shinola" makes more sense because of the context it is used in. "Hooligan" usually refers to a person. --ISlayedTheKerrek 16:20, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

People on Homestar Runner often mispronounce words such as several Foreign Words. I sill think shinoligans was just Crack Stuntman mispronouncing shenanigans. He keeps on mispronouncing the character he the the voice of (Gunhaver). This is just a big mis pronounciation. Homestar-winner 21:17, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I think Tom's theory fits the context better, as there's no reason I know of for "shinola" to be mentioned here. Heimstern Läufer 21:25, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think either theory fits. If the portmanteau was "shenanigans" and "hooligans", they probably would have pronounced "shin" as rhyming with "bin" or "win". —Has Matt?(talk) 22:10, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure you're right, but it seems like people are unaware of the significance of 'Shinola' .... a quick trip to wikipedia will make it clear why that word's in the common parlance.

And in said case, I've heard "shinola" substituted for the four-letter word in that case. And all you have to do is look at the pronunciation. SHY-noligans. Proof right there. You think it's shenanigans and hooligans? The evidence that you're wrong is right in the pronunciation. --ISlayedTheKerrek 18:31, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Shouldn't sbemail be on this list? 74.112.119.229 17:14, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

-No, because it's not a portmanteau. All it is is a combination of Strong Bad's initials (not a word) and the word email. It has to be a two word combo for it to be a portmantau. --ISlayedTheKerrek 15:19, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Does this really belong on the list? Europa-pean would seem to be a standalone word to describe a person (or lobster) from Europa. Europapean isn't really a portmanteau of Europa and European any more than "Irish" is a portmanteau of Ireland and English. -Almsfothepudgy 03:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm rather skeptical of that claim. While I admit I don't know the adjective for Europa (it's so tempting to use europäisch!), I really doubt it would be "Europa-pean" (what noun adds "pean" to become an adjective?) Thus, I'm still fairly sure Europa-pean is an artificial word, namely, a portmanteau of "Europa" and "European". Heimstern Läufer 05:02, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

While I'm not sure that it's a portmanteau, it's definitely not as legit as "Irish". By the way, 'Kipedia uses "Europan" [1]. Loafing 05:07, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

"Europa-pean" (or Europapean) may seem artificial simply because we rarely (if ever) have to refer to anything from Europa, let alone a lobster. (Or person.) I'm still inclined to think it's not a proper portmanteau.

On second thought, if "The Big Wiki" uses Europan, I'm more inclined to think of Europapean as a portmanteau, even though it seems like a misunderstanding of a somewhat obscure word than a proper portmanteau. (BTW, I wrote the first part of this, hit submit, and edit-conflicted with Loafing. This second line was added after reading that remark.

Disagree, the lobster is from Europa, and Strong Bad thinks something from Europa is Europa-pean. Not a portmanteau of Europa and European. --86.12.232.113 17:23, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

But why would SB think that something from Europa is "Europa-pean" except by analogy to "European"? --phlipTC 21:29, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Has to be a portmanteau, because where else does the p in the -pean part come from? The usual form of the suffix on its own is -ean (Manichean, Herculean, etc.) That's why the Irish example from Almsfothepudgy doesn't work; Europa-pean would be analogous to Irelish. Shelikescloth 17:27, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Shelikescloth, please note that this discussion is over a year old, and that Europapean is on the page already. — Defender1031*Talk 17:31, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Sure, I just wanted to clarify the matter lest the argument start up again, since the participants seemed to have missed the crucial point... Shelikescloth 17:34, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

When Strong Bad says "leotarded" in reference to Strong Sad, is that "leotard" and "retarded" or is it just the adjectival form of the word "leotard"? So makey outy 06:05, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
I think it would just be the adjective.

This is rather late, but I think he just means that his brother slapped a leotard on him. You know, like clothed. —MichaelXX2

I don't think "Gewd" Should be in the list. Strongbad isn't trying to combine good and ew.
He's just saying "Good" weird.

When Jay added that one, he used an edit summary of I'm just goin' by the DVD commentary on this one... In fact, one of the brothers (couldn't be bothered to keep track which) actually uses the word "Portmanteau". I don't have the DVD yet so I can't comment. —Shwoo 04:32, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

The fallacy of authorial intent: that they intended it to be a portmanteau doesn't mean that it actually is... but I say hey, leave it on, no harm. Shelikescloth 17:29, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Many, many portmanteaus can be found as captions of the fanstuff from varying years. From 2007: homsunami, treggdor, yolkinator, stained glasstar. From 2006: trogapult, monstrositea, knitdor. From 2005: cheatpod, homestarbeque, soapstar, trogsaic, trogstitch. From 2004: legogdor, legomestar. (And others.) Clearly these have been labeled by TBC, but do they count as "unique to the Homestar Runner universe" if they aren't spoken/written by a character in the Homestar Runner universe? Opinions? OptimisticFool 20:41, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

The sheer volume of the examples indicates it's a favorite style of TBC. I'm all for listing them. Perhaps they should be set apart from the main list. — It's dot com 21:14, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

After looking over the sketchbooks, it seems there are billions there, too. I'm unsure of the best way to set them apart. Separate tables? Someone can beat me to it; I prefer minor edits anyway. =] OptimisticFool 21:31, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

No one beat me to it, so I did it. Improvements welcome! OptimisticFool 01:03, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Okay, what we don't have is a "Who?" column. With the amount of portmanteaus that are listed, I think it would interest people to know who is saying each of them without having to go into each individual page to find out. It would also confirm the statement that "Strong Bad, especially, frequently creates portmanteaus." Anyone agree? OptimisticFool 02:23, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Might get complicated with some of the more popular portmanteaus such as "burninate". Danny Lilithborne 07:32, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Except that portmanteaus are only listed once each, so the source would be the first character to use it. OptimisticFool 18:09, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

(1) I know this was my edit, but I'm thinking the subtitle Portmanteaus Used By Characters is a bit inaccurate with some of the entries. Againymore is not used by any character. Blistergeist is the name of a game Strong Bad found, not a word he just chose to use. I can't think of an alternative subtitle unless we combine the tables and just call the whole thing Portmanteaus. Any ideas? (2) Are appeteasers and dudeical really considered "unique to the Homestar Runner universe"? (3) At the moment, there is no consistency in capitalization. For the most part, the first word is capitalized and the second word isn't unless it's a proper noun (e.g. "Dad and babysitter", "Cheat and Pikachu"). I'm for capitalizing both in all cases so as not to give more importance to any one word over another - any arguments? (4) Is TWII really a portmanteau of three words? It could be of Two and Wii, or Three and Wii (seems more likely based on pronunciation), but of Two, Three, and Wii? OptimisticFool 16:52, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

(1) done (2) i think so, i've never heard them before. (3) i say capitalize the first and proper nouns. (4) no i think it's one or the other, and i'm inclined to say 3, given that it's just "three" with a speech impediment. — Defender1031*Talk 17:02, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

(1) I thought about In Toons also; I guess Email kinda counts as a toon. I'm a bit in doubt about that, plus the general differentiation among Toons, Games, Sbemails, etc. But for now, I think it's better than what we had. (2) See Appeteasers. And Dudeical (also spelled Dudical) also produces many Google results, but not as many as I expected; my guess is that people realize it looks strange in print and opt for a different word. Either way, it clearly existed well before H*R came around (unlike burninate, dadbysitter, bubsness, etc.). Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing others' opinions on these topics as well. OptimisticFool 17:28, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Gymatorium is definitely not unique to the H*R universe; many schools have a gym that is also used as an auditorium. My elementary school had a gymatorium, with that word on the sign above the entrance. Google also returns quite a few results. — 70.110.22.198 (talk • contribs) 04:54, 2 January 2008 (left unsigned)

Well, whether it is unique or not, it is still a combination of two words, thus still making it a Portmanteau. --TheYellowDart—(t/c) 06:41, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

The page states "This article only lists portmanteaus unique to the Homestar Runner universe.", however. Personally, I don't mind getting rid of that line though. --DorianGray 06:55, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Is fangly really fang and ugly?
I thought it had something to do with Angler fish...
AwkwardFire 14:06, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Angler fish are rather ugly, you must admit. I do see your point though. EASports 02:22, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

My first thought when I heard it, I thought "dangly"... --phlipTC 09:34, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Than maybe it's a portmanteaus of "dangly" and fang"? --Acam30 01:39, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I removed it for the time being. The connection with angler fish seems most likely, but I can't really fit it into the portmanteau convention easily (and there are the previously mentioned alternate possibilites).DAGRON 02:34, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I think putting the portmanteaus from the sbemails into their own section would be a good idea. Thoughts? EASports 02:22, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Maybe... although most of them are from sbemails anyways so it wouldn't really add anything to the article. anybody else have thoughts? (Nice subject line by the way.) --Acam30 01:42, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

In that case, maybe there should be one for not sbemails. Mechamind90 21:26, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

The page currently lists this as a portmanteau of Gun and Pakistan. I think (given the low quality of the products it produces) that it is more likely a portmanteau of 'Gunk' and '-stan', probably Pakistan (like we did for Geographist). Any thoughts? Flashfight 05:05, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

As a geographer, I'm actually sure that not only Gunkistan can actually combine Pakistan and Gun, but you can also combine Gun with Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Those are the only other choices I can give you. -Ümläut76 (The C Zone · Talk here!) 20:34, 30 December 2008 (UTC) P.S.: Sorry if I made a late message as of May 10th, 2008.

I'm gonna have to challenge "fizzleweight"s origin. It's clearly a mispronunciation (probably intentional, for the sake of being derisive) of "sizzleweight," the actual name of the title. "Sizzleweight" in turn is not a true portmanteau because it refers not to any particular weight division, but all of them in general. Octan 20:56, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

It says in the article that Diamonocle is a mix between Diamond and monocle. Couldn't it instead be "Diabolical" and monocle? It makes more sense that way; I don't believe he has anything to do with a Diamond. - (long time watcher, first time writer)

Y'know, that does make a lot more sense. But that's been there for a while, so I'd like to hear some other opinions. StrongAwesome 20:08, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

The breakup of in-universe, sketchbook, fanstuff, dev blog seems kinda arbitrary to me, and those distinctions of usage seem to have no bearing on the topic of this page. Why isn't everything just in one large alphabetized list? — Defender1031*Talk 00:30, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Portmanteaus#Fanstuff Captions was where the separate tables were brought up to begin with. Creating separate tables may have been just a passing suggestion by DC when I brought up the subject of Fanstuff captions having many portmanteaus, but I jumped on the idea pretty quickly without giving much time for others to weigh in. That's how it started, though nowadays I don't have a strong opinion about how this particular page appears. OptimisticFool 15:36, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Your original question about whether they're "unique to the Homestar Runner universe" concern can be avoided by simply rewording the opening to say "unique to the homestar runner body of work" instead. — Defender1031*Talk 16:12, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

EA Sports has been trying to add Protardant as a Portmanteau with "promote" and "retardant". Obviously, the word is fake. But I don't know how you can justify "promote" when "pro-" is a normal English prefix. As far as I can see, it's just a mock-opposite to "retardant". Does anyone agree with EA Sports on this one? --Jay(Talk) 04:17, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

I agree with Jay (and also The Knights Who Say Ni, who was the first to remove this fact). I see it as a fake prefix rather than a portmanteau. Heimstern Läufer 04:21, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Right. (Disclaimer to the following: I only kind of skimmed the list.) The component words usually stand on their own. What's your "dream email"? Why, your "dreamail", of course. "Promote retardant" doesn't make sense. "Pro-" is just a real prefix on the fake base word "tardant". "Pro-", by the way, forms not just "promote" but also "progress", "proceed", "produce", and "propel", to name a few, all of which (due to the prefix) would more or less fit here if it were actually a portmanteau. — It's dot com 04:40, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

And all four of the words dot com mentioned can be made opposite (or close to it) by switching the "pro" to "re" ("regress", "recede" (spelled slightly differently, but they're based on the same Latin word), "reduce", and "repel"). Which further cements that "protardant" is supposed to be a mock-opposite to "retardant". --Jay(Talk) 04:56, 15 September 2011 (UTC)